Premeditated Mistake
by MathematicSunset
Summary: Something isn't quite right...can the club handle it? L/C
1. Intro

A slight intro.

This story came from the prompt of **Lindsay teaches Cindy how to shoot a gun.** From there, it took on a mind of it's own. This is sort of a joint effort between myself and two friends, with them giving the ideas and me doing the writing. I also recieve help on courtroom aspects and some conversations from another friend and yet another helps me with grammar. Be warned, this story is hugely angsty, so if you don't like angst, don't read.

**Please review. Tell me what you like, but more importantly, tell me what you _DO NOT _like. It helps me improve.**


	2. Chapter One

It all started with a single red rose. When one thinks of a rose, they think of love. Roses are supposed to symbolize the passion between two people. Because of a single red rose, I can never use that as a symbol to tell Cindy how much I love her. I can see the side of her face from where I sit, one row behind and one person to her right. Tears run down her cheeks, catching on her lips or falling from her chin to dampen her shirt. The judge has handed the paper back to the bailiff and he makes his way back to the jury. I want nothing more at this moment to hold Cindy to me, but I am forced to grab Claire's hand in one of mine and Jill's in the other, holding on for life. The jury foreman takes the paper back from the bailiff and I swear my heart stops. "We the jury, in the matter of the People vs. Cynthia Thomas, in the count of murder in the second degree, find the defendant…"

**-6 Months Prior-**

Cindy slid into her car, the rose on the dashboard catching her eye. Her doors had been locked, but Lindsay had a key. She reached forward and pulled the sweet smelling flower up to her nose and inhaled, smiling slightly. She turned the car on and made her way to Lindsay's apartment, where they had agreed to meet for dinner. Her phone began vibrating in her bag and she blindly reached into the passenger seat, pulling it out and hitting the accept button. "Hello?"

"Hey, are you on your way?" Lindsay sounded out of breath.

"Yeah. I am about fifteen minutes away. I have a really random question," she said, looking at the rose. "Did you happen to leave a rose in my car?"

Lindsay was quiet for a moment. "I haven't been anywhere near the Register at all today. Why?"

"Well, I got into my car and there was a rose on the dashboard," she said, casting another glance at the flower. "If you didn't leave it…"

"Did you have your car locked?" The overprotective worrying tone in the woman's voice was now evident.

"Yes, I had my car locked. I always lock my car. That's why I asked if you put it there, because you have a key to my car."

"Okay, so someone broke into your car, left a rose, locked the car and that was it?"

"Well, I guess so. Don't sound so…unbelieving. I'm hanging up now. I'll see you in a few minutes. I love you," she made a kissing sound into the phone and ended the call, her brow furrowed as she tried to figure out who had left the rose. She pulled up to the curb and grabbed her bag before heading into the apartment. As soon as the door was closed behind her, Lindsay had her arms around her.

"I love you too. You could have waited for me to reply to that before hanging up, you know."

"I was almost here. So deal with it," she smiled, leaning upwards to place a light kiss on the taller woman's lips. Letting the kiss deepen, she slowly snaked her arms around Lindsay's waist, pulling her closer. She gently pulled back, resting her forehead on her lovers shoulder. "Who would put a rose into my car? Who in the hell would break into my car to do that?" She pressed her face into Lindsay's shirt, and it took a moment for the taller woman to realize the redhead was crying.

"Cindy, don't worry about it right now, okay? Let's have a nice dinner, just the two of us, and not worry about a thing in the outside world," she whispered, her mouth pressed to the top of Cindy's head. She closed her eyes and inhaled, smelling the mixed scent of the woman's shampoo and the smell that was distinctly hers. When she went to pull back, Cindy refused to loosen her grip on her waist.

"Is it wrong that I am scared?"

"No," Lindsay whispered, kissing her. "Not at all." She led the still crying woman to the table and sat her down in one of the chairs.

Wiping her eyes, Cindy tried to smile at Lindsay. "So, what wonderful meal have you prepared for me?"

"We have a wonderful meal consisting of chicken with some nice thyme and parsley flavoring, topped with onions and cheese served alongside oven fried potatoes. You better enjoy it, because I worked damn hard to get this all done. And I didn't set anything on fire, or burn anything," she smiled, setting a plate of food in front of Cindy and then one in front of herself. As they ate in silence, Lindsay kept an eye on the redhead, noticing she picked at her food before actually eating it.

"It's good, I promise. I guess I just don't have much of an appetite. I mean, considering. You know?" She managed to force almost all of the food down without feeling like it was going to come back up, and she quickly made her way to the couch as Lindsay cleared the dishes. "Okay, I know I should worry about it all, but, like, you say to push it from my mind for now but I cannot stop thinking about it. I have a really bad feeling about it."

Lindsay sat down next to her and smiled as the redhead draped her legs over the taller woman's and rested her head on her shoulder. "You get bad feelings about a lot of things. You had a bad feeling about coming out…"

"Well, look how that turned out! I mean, the looks that I get from Tom when I show up at your desk now, honestly, they scare me," she said, letting a small smile play across her mouth. "I think that might be part of why you are having trouble with cases."

"It isn't helped by the fact that every single time something shows up in the press, I come under scrutiny for dating the top crime reporter in San Francisco. But you know something? I wouldn't change that for the world," she whispered, holding Cindy close. Their moments of time alone in a quiet apartment were limited, and Lindsay had taken to making the most of every chance they got. After a moment of silence, Cindy took a deep breath and looked at Lindsay.

"I was thinking we could move in together," she blurted, looking into Lindsay's eyes. "I mean, just to have more moments like this. And you are barely home so I could take care of Martha. And I love you, and it seems right to take this next step. I would love to be able to spend the night with you every single night from now until whenever," she said, holding one of Lindsay's hands. The older woman smiled at the redhead's reluctance to use the word forever. "What do you say?"

Lindsay was silent as she looked at Cindy. She wanted nothing more than to scream out the word yes, but something inside her mind stopped her. Would Cindy be able to handle living with her? Getting calls at all hours of the night to go to various crime scenes, and hell, even the chance that she might not come home at all? _There is already the risk of never coming home. Why not make it worth coming home to? _"I don't think the timing is just right for that…"

"What isn't right about it?!" She swung herself around so she was on Lindsay's lap, one leg on either side of the woman's knees. "We love each other, and this hour or two of peace every few days just isn't enough Lindsay. Not for me and not for you. We both know that."

"Cindy…"

"What happened to the whole you are in this fully ready and willing? Huh? What happened to that? What changed?"

"Nothing changed!" She snapped, causing the redhead to lean back a few inches. Lindsay's face immediately softened as she pulled Cindy to her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell."

"There is too much yelling with us, you know that, right? I know I do some of it, but almost every time I see you after only getting to talk briefly for a few days, you just have all this anger. You get so stressed out, and half the time you have to come home to an empty apartment. If I were to move in here, it could make things so much better. Not to mention I might actually have money to put gas in my car without having to worry about the full cost of bills and rent."

Lindsay took another look at the woman and realized she was completely serious. She took a shaky breath. "Will you give me some time to think about it? The last time I shared a home with someone, I ended up getting a divorce. I need to think it through," she whispered, leaning forward to capture Cindy's mouth with her own. The redhead leaned forward, kissing back with an intensity that shocked herself and Lindsay. A small moan escaped her lips as Lindsay slid her hands underneath the soft fabric of her shirt, her fingers splaying over the skin.

Cindy pulled back for a moment, breathless. "If this is what happens every time we argue, we may have to argue just a little bit more," she smirked, looking down to fuss with the buttons on Lindsay's shirt. As soon as she managed to get the buttons undone, she moved her mouth to the woman's collar bone, gently leaving a trail of kisses that stopped just shy of her chest. Lindsay's hands tightened their grip on the younger woman's waist.

"We should go to the bedroom. Blinds are open…" Lindsay whispered, her lips pressed to Cindy's ear.

"Bedroom. Yeah. That works," she said, standing up and pulling Lindsay along with her, giggling like a child as they reached the bedroom and Martha hopped off the bed and padded out of the room. Lindsay kicked the door shut as she bit down on Cindy's pulse point and simultaneously undoing Cindy's jeans and sliding her hand down the front. "Shit…" Cindy whimpered quietly as Lindsay forcibly slid two fingers into the slickness. As her fingers increased in their pace, Cindy's nails dug into Lindsay's side, drawing blood.

They fell back onto the bed, causing Cindy's hand to shift, leaving small red marks as her nails slid. Lindsay hissed into her neck from the pain, trying to not smile at how much she loved the woman underneath her. She could feel Cindy arching into her, her teeth clamped down on her bottom lip, eyes closed tightly. Smirking, she stopped all movement, leaving the redhead panting on the bed. "You're overdressed," she whispered, using her free hand to slide Cindy's shirt up. With amazing speed, Cindy was out of her shirt and attempting to shimmy out of her jeans without having to remove Lindsay's hand.

After some fuss, she pulled Lindsay to her in a fierce kiss, their mouths crashing together, her hand moving to Lindsay's forearm, begging for her hand to start moving again. With more freedom from the removal of the jeans, Lindsay could easily add a third finger, causing her lover to let out a low moan. Letting her thumb rub lightly over the small bundle of nerves brought another smile to Lindsay's face when she realized she had the woman under her complete control. Letting her thumb brush the same spot as before, with slightly more force, was all it took for Cindy to pull Lindsay close, nails making marks in skin and teeth digging into her shoulder, as she tensed up, reaching her climax.

Lindsay held tightly to the woman as she came back down, and as they climbed up underneath the covers, Cindy's breathing finally slowed enough to where she attempted to speak.

"See, if I moved in, we could do that every single night."

"Every single night might kill me. Blood loss, you know?" She whispered, her hand lightly tracing over the scratches on her side. "You ever think of trimming your nails?"

"Takes all the fun out of amazing sex," she whispered, snuggling close to Lindsay. She smiled as she felt the woman moving around to slide off her own pants before settling next to the redhead. "I love you," she mumbled, her face buried in Lindsay's neck. Reaching over to gently move strands of hair away from Cindy's face, she kissed the top of her head.

"I love you more," she whispered, "and I think it would be better if instead of you moving right in, you just stay for a couple nights…see how that works before making it permanent."

Before Cindy could reply, she groaned as her phone started ringing. "Dammit," she said, crawling across Lindsay to reach for her jeans. Ignoring to check the screen, she answered. "Hello?"

"Are you having a good time with your girlfriend?" A male voice that was undoubtedly being altered almost spat the words at her. Out of paranoia and fear, Cindy hit the speakerphone button and looked at Lindsay in the slowly darkening room. "You know, Cindy, I could love you so much better than she can. I can treat you better too. I wouldn't go running off at all hours of the night, leaving you alone."

"Who is this?" Lindsay demanded, the words seeming to sound a lot better in her head that vocalized.

"Oh, speakerphone! What a laugh riot, Cindy. Did you have fun etching your nails into her back? Did you enjoy your rose? There are plenty more where that came from," he said, his voice etching itself into the redhead's mind. The line went dead and Cindy turned to Lindsay, tears in her eyes.

"Do you believe me on my bad feeling about the rose now?" She whispered, dropping the phone to the floor. Her eyes widened as she let her brain process the information it had just received. "Lindsay, he can see us," she said, grabbing for the blankets to hold them tighter around her. Quickly moving from the bed to the dresser, Lindsay grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a shirt, throwing them on quickly before grabbing her gun and running out of the apartment. Standing on the sidewalk next to Cindy's car, she looked around for every possible place the man could have been.

Giving up, she turned to go back inside but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the rose sitting on the hood of the car. It hadn't been there when she had come outside. The man had been right behind her, and she didn't even know it. Looking up again, seeing the light on in the bedroom now, and the door to the apartment wide open, she ran back inside, almost slamming into a now dressed Cindy. She instinctively wrapped her arms around her, not wanting to let her go. "If I told you I wanted to take you to the shooting range, what would you say?" Lindsay asked, her voice a whisper as she kept a hold on Cindy while she double checked the lock on the door.

In an attempt to lighten the mood as the cuddled together on the couch, Cindy looked at Lindsay. "I'd probably shoot myself in the foot."

"Well, I won't let that happen. Okay? I would just feel a hell of a lot safer if I knew you had a decent way to protect yourself. From this bastard or anyone else who fucks with you."

"A gun is decent?"

"To me it is. Okay? Will you?"

Cindy looked at the floor before turning her gaze back to Lindsay. "Okay. Because you want me to, I will." She resumed her position, pulling Lindsay's arms tighter around her. "I'm scared."

_I am too…_ Lindsay kissed the top of her head. "I know you are. But I'm gonna keep you safe. I promise."


	3. Chapter Two

**2**

"_Inspector Boxer, you were the first officer on the scene, correct?"_

"_Yes."_

"_And how is it that you arrived there before 911 was dialed?"_

"_I was there to check on Cindy."_

"_What is your relationship to Ms. Thomas?"_

"_We are in a relationship."_

"_Why were you at the victims apartment?"_

"_Because he had been stalking Cindy for five months! I had found out she was going to his apartment, and I followed her the moment I found out he was her stalker."_

"_Why did the bullet that killed the victim match that of your service weapon?"_

"_Cindy had my gun."_

"_How did Ms. Thomas procure your weapon?"_

"_I was asleep. She must have taken it when she left. I woke up and discovered my gun was missing and there was a note from Cindy."_

"_What did the note say?"_

"_It said that she knew he was her stalker, and she was going to talk to him."_

"_She was going to kill him."_

"_No! She wouldn't do that on purpose. She isn't capable of it."_

"_Inspector, tell us what you observed when you arrived at the victims apartment."_

"_I was heading up the stairs when I heard a gunshot. Seconds later I heard a second, and fearing for Cindy's life, I kicked the door open. Cindy was in the corner, holding the gun to her head and he was dead."_

"_Then what did you do?"_

"_I carefully talked her into putting down the weapon. And then she told me she only meant to scare him."_

"_She only meant to scare him, and yet the weapon was fired twice?"_

"_A majority of the time, when someone who is not familiar with a gun, and they are attempting to scare a person, the weapon may discharge. In their shock, they may pull the trigger again."_

"_Is that how she hit the victim in the stomach and in the head?"_

"_Most likely, yes."_

"_How did she hit two parts of his body that have such a distance between them?"_

"_When you fire a gun, there is a kick. Given the time between hearing the shots, she didn't have the chance to re-aim the weapon. It would climb higher each time it was discharged."_

"_If you were just investigating this case, and had no personal attachments to it, what would you think?"_

"_I would think that she acted in her own defense."_

"_Nothing further."_

"What do you mean we can't tell Jill and Claire?! Lindsay, there is a freaking psycho who is watching me. He broke into my car! There has been one red rose for me somewhere daily. Do you think it isn't just important enough for them to know?" Cindy yelled, pacing the living room. Martha had taken shelter underneath the couch, hiding from the redhead's fiery temper.

"I think this should stay between us, because it is an us problem," Lindsay said calmly, sitting on the couch and crossing her arms over her chest. "So stop pacing and stop yelling. You're scaring the dog."

"How can you even think this is an us problem? Lindsay, he's stalking me! You shouldn't have anything to do with it! I should be free to tell whoever the hell I want to."

Lindsay got to her feet and stared incredulously at the woman. "If I shouldn't have anything to do with that, I guess you shouldn't have anything to do with Kiss-Me-Not then, right? I mean, because that must be a me problem. No room for someone to help me out and care about me."

"That is a completely different thing!"

"How is it different Cindy?! Tell me that."

The redhead tried to stand her ground as Lindsay towered over her, glaring at her. She blinked a few times, letting tears fall down her face as she wrapped her arms tightly around Lindsay's waist. "It's not. I'm sorry, okay? It's not different. I just have no idea how to deal with this. How does one go about dealing with a stalker when they don't even know who the hell it is?!"

"We do what we can," she whispered, wrapping her arms around Cindy. "How can you think of this as not an us problem? I thought we agreed when we started seeing each other that anything we went through we would go through together." She gently stroked Cindy's hair back from her face. "I will never admit this again, but I am almost as scared as you."

Cindy leaned against her for a moment, her eyes closed tightly. After a moment, she opened them and looked at Lindsay. Without saying a word, she leaned up and placed a rough kiss on Lindsay's lips, still holding her waist tightly. The redhead felt privileged to see such a vulnerable side to Lindsay, and she also felt terrified of it at the same time. As she pulled back, looking at Lindsay, something in her mind just seemed to click. "Linz…" She pulled away from the woman and looked out onto the street, noticing the rose of the day sitting on her windshield. "I think I know who this might be. I mean, it's a long stretch but…"

"Who?" Her voice was harsh, the anger overpowering the crippling fear in her chest.

"Remember…when you were working the murder of that mom…who was on that dating site?"

"And you went off and set yourself up with one of our prime suspects at the time? Yeah."

"The suspect who ran out…"

"To buy you a rose," Lindsay finished for her, eyes growing wide. "What the fuck was his name. Dino something."

"Palley," she whispered, sitting on the couch. "Like I said, it's a long stretch, but it could be, right?"

Lindsay grabbed her badge and gun from the table and slipped her phone into her pocket. "You stay put. Anyone knocks on that door, ignore it and call me. Got it?"

"What am I? Two?"

"Cindy…"

"I got it," she whispered, kissing the woman gently. "Where are you going?"

"To see what mister Dino Palley has been up to lately," she said, leaving the apartment. Cindy checked the locks behind her, and then placed herself back on the couch. She silently watched television, jumping when she heard a scuffing noise outside of the door. A few moments after it stopped, she quickly scrolled through her phonebook to find Lindsay's number. "Boxer."

"Linz, no one knocked specifically, but there was noises from out in the hall, some tapping on the door kind of…then nothing," she said, fear in her voice. "Hold on, I have an incoming call…" She ignored Lindsay's protests and switched the calls. "Hello?"

"I wouldn't go calling your girlfriend so quickly. Why don't you go see what I left you? I promise no harm will come to you. Leave the Inspector out of this Cindy. It isn't her place to meddle…" The line went dead and she quickly flipped back over to Lindsay.

"That was him. He said I should go see what he left for me," she said, starting to cry.

"Do not open that door. I am coming home now," she said. "You were right on the long shot. I had Palley in my sight this whole time. I swear I am going to find out who is doing this…" She hung up and Cindy pulled her knees to her chest, one hand reaching over to scratch Martha's ears. She spent the next fifteen minutes in complete silence, almost afraid to breathe. She almost fell off the couch at the one solid thump on the door.

"Cindy! It's Lindsay. Open it!" The redhead took a shaky breath and half-ran to the door when she heard Lindsay's voice. She looked at the door where Lindsay was staring and covered her mouth with both hands. There was an article, her article, the one that Kiss-Me-Not had sent the FBI, pinned to the door, a rose with it. Her eyes glanced over the red on the paper. "Blood," Lindsay whispered. "You're mine, not hers."

Cindy fell back against the wall and slid to the floor, closing her eyes tightly. "Why me?" She choked out, looking up at Lindsay. "Why would someone do this to me?" Lindsay silently helped the woman up and led her to the bedroom. She placed a kiss on her forehead and then went back to the hallway and called Jacobi.

"Get to my apartment now, please," she whispered, flipping the phone shut quickly. When he arrived twenty minutes later, she was still staring at the door. "Cindy has a stalker," she stated, turning to look at Jacobi. "We have no idea who and we have no idea why. It started with a rose in her car, and then there was a new rose once a day. This is today's second rose, and as you can see, a nice little love note. This is the same article Kiss-Me-Not sent the FBI."

"Have you actually informed someone of this who can actually do something about it?"

"I called you," she said, looking at the door again. She couldn't fight the tears back anymore.

"Where's Cindy?"

"Sitting in the bedroom, freaked as fuck about this," she whispered, stepping side and grabbing a trash bag, roughly pulling the paper off the door and shoving it and the rose into the bag. "You are the only one besides Cindy and I who know. I plan on keeping that way."

"So, you are going to deal with a psychopath after you, the stresses of your job and find the psychopath who is stalking your girlfriend all by yourself?"

"Well, I was kind of hoping you would help me out at least a little." He followed her into the apartment, closing and locking the door behind him, as Lindsay set the bag in the kitchen. "For two weeks now," she whispered, sitting on the couch.

"Why haven't you told anyone?"

"We don't want anymore attention drawn to this than already has been. I mean, Lindsay has more important things to worry about than me, she just doesn't see that," Cindy said, standing in the doorway. Jacobi smiled as Lindsay motioned the redhead over, letting her cuddle up next to her on the couch.

"Who would have thought it would take a reporter to get you to settle down a little," he mused, watching them. "And even if she does have important things, from what I see right now, you are the most important one."

Cindy yawned, making Lindsay smile. "Jeez, Jacobi, your little speech there bored her to sleepiness." She looked at the redhead next to her, who was now resting her head on the back of the couch, staring at the ceiling. "Why don't you go on to bed," she whispered, kissing Cindy's cheek lightly. The petite redhead nodded before getting up and slowly padding back towards the bedroom, stopping briefly to look at Jacobi.

"You're gonna help her out, right? Because I would want to have to hurt you," she smiled, watching him.

"I can't say no to her," he replied, giving the woman a tightly hug.

"Join the club," Cindy mumbled, disappearing down the hallway.

"I want to find out who is doing this, and I want to hurt them," she whispered, staring at her hands as Jacobi joined her on the couch after grabbing two beers from the fridge. "She doesn't sleep anymore. She just lays there. And when she does fall asleep, she wakes up crying. For three weeks now."

"Does she know how to protect herself?"

Lindsay took a swig of the beverage and sighed. "I'm gonna take her to the range and teach her to shoot. Maybe, if she ever gets comfortable with a weapon, see about getting her a license to get her own gun. I know she is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do though, so she has that on her side."

"Unless he comes after her with a gun."

"Don't put that fucking thought in my head."

"Sorry," he said, gently squeezing her knee. "Why don't you get some sleep?"

"Because I can't sleep." She finished her beer and set the bottle down on the table. "Anyways, I don't think I could get that image of the paper on the door out of my head."

"Go lay down with her. I'm off for the night, so I can stay here. I'll keep you two safe. Besides, right now, I think she needs you more than this couch does."

She smiled at him for a moment. "You know where the spare blankets are?" He nodded. "Night." She waved over her shoulder as she left the room. When she entered the bedroom, she stopped smiling when she saw Cindy sitting on the bed, staring out the window. "Hey…"

Cindy turned around, tears streaming down her face. "I tried to lie down and close my eyes, but I saw the door," she whispered, closing her eyes as Lindsay wrapped her arms around her. "I don't want to be scared of him anymore. I want to be brave."

Without saying anything, Lindsay urged Cindy back into lying on the bed, pulling the blanket around them. As she stroked the strands of red hair from her face, she let the tears leave her own eyes. This wasn't how things were supposed to be. They had received enough drama with their coming out and the still lingering threat of Kiss-Me-Not. Lindsay knew she deserved this pain, but there was no way that Cindy had ever done anything to bring this upon herself.

As she felt Cindy's breathing even out as the woman fell into a light sleep, her mind drifted back to the note on the door. Slowly extracting herself from Cindy's grasp, she removed herself from the bed and headed into the living room. Jacobi had the television on, watching an infomercial. "I thought you were going to lie down?"

"The article. It was the same one that Kiss-Me-Not sent…"

"And?"

"Claire, Jill, Cindy, you, Tom, Ashe and myself were the only ones around here who knew that article in relation to him."

"You're getting at?"

"If he wanted to weaken me before trying to kill me, he would go after something I love. After someone I love."


End file.
